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As many of you know, COVID-19 is making us go a little stir-crazy, me in-particular. I’m so used to being outside and being social and not being stuck at home. Matt is still working at the hospital during this time so he still gets some social interaction.
The previous week, I had a cousin-weekend with my two best-cousins, Caleb and Jessica. We thought it would be fun to checkout the hot springs in Meadow, Utah. We went on a Friday and there were quite a few people there, and with the pools being rather small, it made it a bit crowded for our liking. For each of us, this was our first time there.
As we were driving to one of the pools, a man who lived out of his sketchy broken-down camper trailer stopped us and asked if we could charge a car battery for him. We were a little reluctant because of his haggard appearance, but thought it would be the nice thing to do. Caleb got out of the car and helped hook up the jumper cables and talked with him while the battery charged. Jessica and I stayed in the car and after about four minutes we started to get an uneasy feeling and told him that we had to go.
He seemed like a nice-enough guy, but you can never be too careful, especially out in the middle of nowhere with a guy who looks homeless. I tell you this story so you can get a better idea of what types of people like to hang around the hot springs.
Despite the crowd and the crazy guy, we enjoyed our time there and thought it was definitely worth a second trip sometime soon.
“Sometime soon” came quicker than we were expecting. Four days later, Caleb and I felt it was time to go back. With there not being a lot to do at home during this pandemic, we were itching to get out again. This time it was me, Caleb, and Matt. We decided we would try to get to the hot springs earlier in the day to beat the crowds, so we left home at 9:30 a.m. and drove the two hours down south to the hot springs.
Meadow is a tiny town in Millard County, Utah with a population of around 300 and the springs are located in the middle of a field. Please keep in mind, the springs are on private property and the owners can limit access anytime they want. Pack out whatever you pack in. There are trash cans at each of the hot springs. Pickup after yourself or if you see any other trash nearby.
To get to the hot springs click here for the link in google maps or follow these directions: Going south on I-15 take exit 158 toward Meadow, Kanosh. Turn left and go under the freeway onto Main St. Drive about 1.6 miles until you pass the last structure on your left and you should see a dirt road on your right that looks like it leads out to some fields. You will be on the dirt road for about 5.2 miles. You’ll see a few off-paths, but continue straight and you will go over the freeway. Be aware, there tend to be some roaming cows in this area. At the end of the road, you’ll see a large parking area.
From the parking area, directly to the south about 1/4 mile down the road is the first hot spring. The road to the hot spring is wide enough to drive on, but has tons of potholes and I do not recommend driving down. We parked in the large parking area and just walked the short 4 minute walk to get there.
This hot spring is the hottest temperature at around 100 degrees. It is very deep at one point and goes down about 25 feet deep. There are some rocks around the edges that are good for sitting, as well as a rope that is strung across the deepest part that you can sit on or hold onto. This tends to be the busiest hot spring as it is the warmest. It can feel crowded fast.
The second and third hot springs are to the west. We hopped back in our car from the large parking area and drove down this road. There are a few potholes but it is not as bad and a sedan should make it fine. You will see the second hot spring on your right as you drive down. This pool is pretty large, but not as deep. There is a dock here that you can sit on and put your feet in the water, or you can use it to jump in the water if you are careful. This pool is the coolest of the three and also has the most fish swimming around. We didn’t swim in this pool.
The third pool is our personal favorite. This pool seemed to be just the right temperature. It is a good size and can fit a fair amount of people without feeling over-crowded. There are a few small fish that swim around in here. It seems to be the mossiest of the three pools though and can get a little murky after swimming around for a while.
When we arrived on Tuesday morning, we walked towards the warmest hot spring first. As we got closer we realized there were three people swimming in it already, and disclaimer, they had no clothes on. As soon as we realized this, we turned back and got in our car and drove to the third hot spring instead. When we arrived, we saw that we were the only other ones there. It was so nice to have this hot spring to ourselves.
We stayed in this pool for about an hour. We tried our luck at the first pool again and the nudie’s had gotten out and had left. We didn’t have this pool to ourselves for very long. Very soon afterwards, a big family of about 15 came. They had lots of smaller kids and stayed in the shallow end. Caleb, Matt, and I stayed in the deep end and tried swimming down to the bottom of this pool. It was so deep that only Caleb was able to make it all the way down once.
We didn’t enjoy the crowd of people, or the super warm water after being in “just right” water, so we left and walked back over to our “Goldilocks pool” and ate a quick lunch of tuna fish sandwiches and chips before swimming some more. About 30 minutes later we were ready to head home.
Overall, we spent around 2.5-3 hours at the pools. This experience was so much better the second time for us as we loved having one of the pools to ourselves.
Tips:
- Bring a pair of goggles with you. (My favorite brand of goggles from Amazon here.) The pools are pretty clear and so beautiful to look around underwater. If you have a smaller pair of fins, you can bring those to try to swim to the bottom of the deepest pool.
- Pack a lunch. We just brought sandwiches, chips, apples, and drinks. It made all the difference to eat a quick snack so that we could stay a bit longer and swim. Don’t forget to wait 30 minutes before you swim 😉
- Bring shoes that you can swim in for better traction. There is a lot of moss and sharp rocks in the pools. I was really glad I had my Chaco’s with me. Matt was wearing his favorite water shoes.
- Go early in the morning. Take into account how long the drive will take you. It took us about two hours from Pleasant Grove. More people and families tend to come in the early afternoon, so by 2:00 p.m. it was pretty crowded and noisy.
- If you go later in the evening, you can expect more people to be swimming without clothes and acting a little more PG-13/R. This is one of those places that tends to attract partiers and transients, so be prepared in the evening to face young adults swearing and drinking, as well as some crazies that live in sketchy camper trailers/vans.
- Pack out whatever you pack in and help keep the area clean.
We hope these tips are helpful to your trip to the Meadow hot springs. Comment below if you’ve been or you are going. I can’t wait to hear about your adventure!
Feel free to pin a photo below to add this location to your bucket list!
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